I waited for him to tell us it was a joke—a sick one, sure, but I wouldn’t put that past Kell.
He curled his lip. “Don’t act so surprised. Any adult who’s still alive today has killed. Even your parents. Maybe they didn’t pull a trigger, but no one survived unless they were prepared to see someone else die.”
Jerren was about to fill another bucket, but Alice snatched it from him. She wasn’t content with being faster in a boat; she wanted to outwork him too. Or maybe she just couldn’t bear to listen to stories of people dying so soon after losing her father and sister.
Alice splashed water across her face as it gushed into the bucket. “So where are the rats?” she asked.
Kell and Jerren exchanged a knowing glance. “There aren’t any,” said Jerren.
“But I thought . . .”
Kell snorted. “No way Chief’s sending you to a rat-infested island when you don’t even know what vegetables and roots you’re looking for yet.” He tapped his head. “Suicide squads move in pairs. Quickly. One person picking food, the other keeping lookout. Today is about learning the process, not about taking risks.”
Ananias wandered toward the nearest plot. “Why not tell us that?”
“Chief wants you to know the danger is real. If you’d freaked out on the way here, better for us to find out when there’s no risk to anyone. Jerren and me . . . we don’t want one of you accidentally costing us our lives, know what I’m saying?”
Alice looked Jerren up and down. “I can think of worse outcomes.”
Jerren fought back a smile. “Well, here’s your chance. You’re pairing up with me today.”
Alice gave a nonchalant shrug, but as he brushed by her, she moved the bucket to her other hand, trying to catch him with it. He sidestepped quickly, and grinned so large, all his teeth showed.
Kell took the rest of us over to the farthest plot and began listing the vegetables. He showed us how to tell if they were ready to be picked, and how to check the leaves for signs of blight. Insects were a problem, but couldn’t be helped, he said, directing all his remarks to Ananias.
When Kell was done explaining, Griffin and I broke off as a pair. As Griffin carefully selected leaves from a spinach plant, I took the role of lookout, imagining what it would be like to stand on a tiny island in the middle of the harbor, surrounded by rats.
Alice stood beside the opposite wall; on lookout, just like me. Only she wasn’t surveying the ground at all. Her eyes were fixed on Jerren as he poured water in a steady trickle. She seemed to be in a trance, just staring at this boy who was so unlike any she’d known before. When she finally looked up, she saw me watching her. Her expression, so calm a moment before, turned fierce, as though I’d uncovered a deep secret.
It wasn’t difficult to guess what that secret might be.
CHAPTER 19
Alice and Jerren were still busy when the rest of us filled our packs with fresh vegetables and returned to the boats. We tied the packs to the masts to make sure they didn’t fall overboard.
While we waited, Ananias pointed to Charleston. “Why don’t the rats cross over here?”
“Too far,” answered Kell. “One or two out of a whole pack would make it, but not enough to populate an island.”
“So why didn’t the people from Charleston come over here to live?” I asked. “There’s plenty of food.”
Kell pushed the boat out. “No shelter, for one thing. And we didn’t plant here for almost a year. We needed to be sure no one would steal from us.”
“You’re a refugee colony.”
“So? We wanted survivors, not hangers-on. Not the ones who were too stupid to keep themselves alive.” Kell ran his hand over his bald head. “It sounds cruel, I know. But we couldn’t let them in and watch the colony collapse. We started taking refugees after six months, when we knew the fittest had survived. By then, anyone still alive had something special. A gift, or a quality.” He nodded to himself. “Like you, Thomas. You’ve survived sixteen years, right? So what’s your special ability?”
I resisted the urge to look away. “Nothing. The Guardians were well-organized, is all.”
“Hmm.” He planted his hands on his hips. “Well, you better find a skill quickly. Today was a practice run, you understand? Tomorrow, we’ll be heading to Fort Moultrie. It’s less than half the distance we went today, but a thousand times more dangerous.”
My pulse raced. “Rats, you mean.”
“Sure. It’s an island, but closer to the mainland, so the rats crossed over a long time ago. It’s where Jerren’s parents died.” He paused to let that sink in. “Unless the lookouts are working harder than the gatherers tomorrow, they won’t be the last, either.”
»«
It was three miles back to Sumter. I figured Alice would want to race, so I pushed off quickly to give us a head start—anything to help her feel like herself again.
Griffin sat across from me, legs splayed out on the stiff canvas sheet pulled taut across the catamaran’s metal frame. I tried to make eye contact a few times, but he was obviously angry about our early-morning conversation, because he wouldn’t look at me.
Halfway across the harbor Alice had built a big lead. Satisfied that he wouldn’t have anything more to do until we reached Sumter, Griffin reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of paper. He began to draw.
What. Doing? I signed.
He didn’t respond at first, but when he finished the image, he showed it to me. It was of a pair of hands forming the sign for water. He noticed my startled expression and finger-spelled the name N-Y-L-A. By the time he reached the last letter, he’d turned red.
She. Sign. Good, I continued.
He gave a halfhearted nod. She. Smart, he returned, admiration coming through each decisive sign.
What. You. Talk. About?
He held up the paper again. She. Learning. He shrugged. Not. Many. Signs. But. Try.
I was about to remind him that she’d followed our signs pretty well earlier that morning, but stopped myself. At least she cared enough to learn his signs at all.
How. Echo? I asked.
From the way he furrowed his brow, it was almost like he’d forgotten what his echo was, or at least had to think hard about his answer. Echo. Good, he decided. No. Pain. He smiled for a moment, but then his face darkened again. Me. Not. Solution.
Maybe, I hedged.
He looked me right in the eye at last. Not. Solution. But. You. Save. Me.
Save. You?
On. Roanoke. He paused. You. All. Save. Me.
I raised my hands to sign, a word or two to play down what we’d done for him. But he was already shaking his head, warning me not to do it. I’d been worried that learning he was the solution would change Griffin. I hadn’t considered that the hardest part would be realizing that everything had happened because of him. Everything we’d risked and lost was a burden he had to carry. A debt he couldn’t repay.
I leaned forward to take his hand—without our echoes, it would have felt different than ever before—but Alice interrupted us. “Useless,” she muttered.
I turned to face her. “What?”
She flicked her head at the boat trailing in our wake. “Jerren.” She seemed to enjoy saying his name, though she didn’t smile. “He just got caught in our wake. Such a small wave, but he didn’t see it coming. He’s lost another few yards.”
“You like him, don’t you.”